Brake control apparatus



I c. 1., CALARCO ET AL BRAKE CONTROL APPARATUS April 28, 1936.

Filed Jul 15, 1955 Patented Apr. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

2,038,883 BRAKE CONTROL APPARATUS Carmine n Calarco, New York, and Gene Leoianti, sum Island, N. Y.

Application July 15, 1935, Serial No. 31,348 12 Claims. (Cl. 192-13) This invention relates to brake control appara- Said rod is carried back and iorth bythe brake tus, and more particularly to a brake control linkpedal when the latter is actuated, and is provided age device for use in motor vehicles. with an adiustably mounted detent it, preferably In many cities, motor traflic very often becomes of irusto-conical outline.

congested, and as a result operators must drive Steering rod casing, l3 isprovided with bracket 5 their vehicles either slowly or at short intervals. melnliers 2|! and 2i, which are held in any desired This requires continual braking and shifting, and adjustable position by means of fastening memin cases where trafllc is stopped on a hilly street bers 22. Bracket member 20 has a pair 0! diagothe operator finds it difllcult to keep his foot on nally opp ed ans r extensions 23 and 24 rethe brake and at the same time properly shift, spectively. Extension 23, is provided with an Furthermore, continual pressure on the brake openin 5 f tain ng rod it in alisnment pedal ofthevehicle causes a strain on the driver's during the mov en 0! the r ke pe al. One

- leg making it awkward for him to -properly shift end of opening 25 is provided with a washer II gears in the operation of the vehicle. made any resilient material to P e e t 001i- [5 It is an object of the present invention to protact 0f detent l9 w extension 13 o t dow 15 vide a simply constructed and easily assembled Ward mov m of kepedal i2. Said washer brake control device for use in connection with also takes p the h k ain extension 23 motor vehicles. caused by detent '9 being pi y moved down- It is another object of the present invention to Ward during the operation of the brake pedal.

provide novel apparatus for attachment to the Extension 3, furt ermore, has a longitudinal 20 brake and clutch pedals of motor vehicles to conslot 26, as shown in Fi8- 2, thru which 18 P6 trol the operation of the foot brake when the moa t screw pin 21, for pivotally accommodating tor vehicle is to be started when at rest on a level a hOOk ba S D e d t p i or inclined grade, thereby permitting theoperator in extension 13 a d a Op n at t e 25 to rest his legs. hooked end portion or bar 28. The upper end 0! 25 One other object of this invention is to provide the bar as shown in the drawing 18 a p to control apparatus for retaining the foot brake of 1m 8- sliding and fixed engagement with the a motor vehicle in depressed position and ior -aulonger end o t nt l9, every time said bar is tomatically releasing said foot brake upon the actuated and the hooked end is moved toward 3 operation of the clutch pedal. said detent. The other end of bar 28 is pivotally 30 Still another object 01' the present invention is connected to ne d of a li mem 30 to p to provide brake control apparatus with means for movement 0! the r about D B i link easily disengaging t apparatus from, operatlon member 30 is pivoted at its other end to a ratchet with the brake and clutch pedals o! a motor ve- Wheel 3| adiocent i p ph ry- S d Wheel 18 mol provided with a plurality of successive openings, 35

These and other objects will become apparent r a iustment of the link member with the from the embodiment described and claimed wheel. i rde to set the es ed encasement 0! herein. i the hook bar 20 with detent ii.

In the accompanying drawing is shown 'a pre- Ratchet wheel ii is provided with one or more 40 erred embodiment of the present invention, in s n i lly x nded ends or teeth ii and is 40 which: mounted flush on the face of bracket 20, being Fig. 1 is aplan view oi the preferred construcmtfltahly za ed r n by means 01 fastention embodying the present invention; and ing member It, Ratchet wheel Si is normally Fig. 2 is asectidn looking indirection of arrows retained i tensed c i e po ti by means taken on lin 2. 2 of'Flg, 1, I of a spring 3| interconnecting the wheel and 45 Referring now more particularly to the drawbrunt thill n rmal pin hook bar II ing in which similar reference characters desigin emms n w detent rina 84 is h ld hate like parts thruout, a conventional dash and n position y mean 0! pins 3| and II on the iioor. board It, has passing thru it an accelerator wheel a bracket member p c iv y.

0 button I l, brake pedal l2, a steering wheel shaft Clutch pe l5 shown a r k n away in Fla. 1 casing ",ior steering shaft II andacIutchpedaI has a pivotally extending rod 31 onto which is ll. Said clutch, pedal and steering members may diu ly m e a ten 3! similar in conbe oilany conventional type. Brake pedal I2 is struction to detent ll. Rod I1 is retained in pivoted to a rod member llby a cross pin l1 and position dur its movement by a collar ll thru 5 is held in engagement by means of a cotter I I. which it passes, when detent ll makes abutting 56 contact with tooth 3|. Said collar is held in position by strut l8 pivoted to the marginal edge of extension 28, and a tension spring 4|. Said spring is connected at one end to pin 38 on s bracket 28. It is to be noted that every time rod 31 is moved laterally of bracket 20, spring 4| is yieldably extended to permit such movement.

A brace 82 is fixed to the face of extension 28 as shown in the drawing by means of screw 10 bolts 43, to limit the lateral movement of rod 31 during the operation of clutch pedal l8.

'If it is desired to keep ratchet wheel II in inoperative position, a cable is provided. Said cable is pivoted at one end to the face of wheel 3| by means of attachment 45, and extends therefrom thru a casing 48 .to board Ill. The other end of the cable extending from board III, has a handle 81 to permit pushing or pulling of the same, thereby moving ratchet wheel in clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Furthermore, said handle 41 may be rotated in any suitable manner to lock the cable thereby keeping ratchet wheel 3| in an inoperative position when the brake control device is not used.

In the operation of the embodiment, hereinabove described, when pedal I2 is depressed, rod I8 is brought down therewith. Detent I! on said rod forms a slidable abutment on the curved upper end of bar 28, forcing the upper part of the bar outwardly as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. Spring 38 of wheelll movesthe latter clockwise thereby eflecting engagement of the bar with the detent. It is to be noted that when the brake pedal is in locked position, tooth 3| of wheel 3i is in the position shown in. full line in Fig. 1.

To release the engagement, clutch pedal i5 is depressed, detent 38 'on rod 3'! slides over the periphery of wheel 3|. Rod 31 being loosely piv- 40 oted at its end to pedal i5 permits detent 38 to pass over the edge of tooth 3i, and is then brought into alignment by means of spring II.

The detent then engages tooth 3| as shown in the drawing. Clutch pedal I! normally rising draws up with it rod 31 and detent 38 which rotates wheel in counterclockwise position to break the engagement of hook bar 28 with detent I, to release the brake pedal which moves upward. It is apparent from the preceding description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing that a novel invention is attained having many advantages heretofore not found in the prior art. According to the present invention, the foot brake of a motor vehicle can be easily retained in depressed position, when the vehicle is on an inclined grade, by first putting ratchet wheel 3| in operative position, namely by turning it in a clockwise direction. Said wheel in turn horizontally shifts link member to the left of the device as shown in the drawing. The upper part of hook bar 28, which is pivoted at its upper portion to extension 23 of bracket 28 can easily engage detent I! on its downward movement on the foot brake rod. By merely depressing the clutch pedal, the locking engagement is broken and the vehicle is ready to move. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the motor operator is relieved of the awkwardness caused by continually keeping his foot on the brake when the vehicle is on an inclined grade.

While one preferred embodiment of this invention has been described it is to be understood that various changes as to parts, materials, use

and form may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

We claim: u

1. Brake control apparatus comprising a brake pedal, a clutch pedal, a mountable bracket intermediate the pedals, a rotatable catch member s on said bracket, a linkage member pivotally extending from the catch member, pivotal means in connection with the linkage member for retaining the brake pedal in fixed position, and interlocking means on the pedals for controlling the rotary movement of the catch member.

2. Brake control apparatus comprising a clutch pedal, a brake pedal, slidable means pivotally extending from said pedals, a longitudinal casing intermediate said pedals and means, a bracket mounted on the casing, having diagonally opposite extensions thereon for accommodating the passage therethru, of said slidable means, a rotatable tensed member on the bracket having a marginal extending portion, a slidably adjustable locking member on'each of said slidable members, a link extending from said rotatable member, and means intermediate the link and the slidable means on the brake pedal for engaging the locking member on said brake pedal slidable means.

3. Brake control device for a motor vehicle comprising a bracket, having a pair of diagonally opposed extensions, a ratchet wheelmounted on said bracket intermediate the extensions, a pair of slidable members for said extensions, catching means slidably adjusted on the members, a locking member pivoted to one of the extensions for engaging the catching means on one of the slidable members, a linkage member interconnecting the locking member and the ratchet wheel, and means for normally retaining the ratchet wheel in tensed position.

4. A brake control device according to claim 3,

in which one of the catching means is adapted ,40

to engage the ratchet wheel and normally disengagethe locking member from the catching means of the other slidable member.

5. Apparatus for controlling the foot brake of a motor vehicle comprising, a brake pedal, a 45 clutch pedal, a steering rod casing intermediate the pedals, a rod pivoted to each'of said pedals, catching means on the rods adjustably mounted thereon, a bracket fixed to the casing having opposed extensions thereon, one of said extensions having a slotted opening, and an adjacent opening therein, said opening accommodating the brake rod, a ratchet wheel, rotatably mountedon the bracket intermediate the extensions, the catching means on the vclutch pedal rod being adapted to engage the ratchet wheel, a-locking member pivoted to the slotted extension for normally engaging the catching means ,on the brake rod, a linkage member interconnecting, the looking member with the ratchet wheel whereby the latter may actuate the locking member, and a tensioned spring extending from the bracket to the ratchet wheel for retaining the ratchet wheel in tensed clockwise position.

6. Brake control apparatus for motor vehicles, according to claim 5, in which the ratchet wheel is provided with flexible means extending therefrom to the dashboard of the motor vehicle to render the wheel inoperable.

7. Brake control apparatus for motor vehicles including a bracket with opposed extensions thereon, means for supporting the bracket, a brake rod and a clutch rod, accommodated by said extensions, adjustable catch means on each of said rods, a rotary member mounted on said 75 bracket engageable with the clutch rod means, a locking member pivoted to one of said extensions for normally engaging the catch means on the brake rod, linkage means interconnecting the locking member and the ratchet wheel whereby to release the locking member from engagement, tension means intermediate the ratchet and rotary member for normally retaining the latter in tensed clockwise condition, and tension means intermediate the bracket and clutch rod for permitting lateral engagement of the catching means on the clutch rod thereby permitting movement of the rotary member in counterclockwise direc: tion to disengage the locking member.

8. Brake control device for motor vehicles comprising a bracket, means for supporting said bracket, a rotatable engaging member on said bracket, tension means interconnecting the rotatable member and the bracket tending to keep the member in tensed clockwise position, a clutch pedal, a brake pedal, a pivotal locking member mounted on the bracket, a linkage member interconnecting the rotatable and locking members, means extending from the brake pedal for interlocking the locking member, and means extending from the clutch pedal for actuating the /rotatable member and disengage the locking member from the brake pedal extending means.

9. A brake control device according to claim 8, provided with manually controllable tractile means extending from the rotatable member for moving the member in counterclockwise direction, to render the member inoperable when the brake pedal is depressed.

10. In a brake control device for a motor vehicle, the combination with a bracket mounted intermediate the brake and clutch pedals of said vehicle of a tensed limitable rotatable member on the bracket, catching means depressible with the brake, locking means extending from the rotatable member for normally engaging the catching and locking means, on the clutch pedal for normally reversing the movement of the rotatable member thereby disengaging the catching and locking means, and means extending from the edge of the rotatable member in communication with the dashboard of the vehicle, for actuating the rotatable vmember into vcounter-clockwise tensed position to render the same inoperable.

11. A brake control device formotor vehicles, a bracket provided with opposed extensions, means for supporting the bracket, a plurality of opposed independently slidable catching members each passable thru the extensions, a tensed rotatable member pivoted to the bracket intermediate the extensions, means extending irom the rotatable member for engaging one of the catching members, the other of said means being adapted upon shifting the gears of the motor vehicle to disengage the first catching member, and means extending from the periphery of the rotatable member for maintaining said member in an inoperable condition.

12. Brake control apparatus for motor vehicles, comprising a bracket, means for supporting the bracket, a rotatable member mounted on the bracket, a slidable member adjacent the bracket,

means extending from the rotatable member for engaging said member whereby to retain the same in locked position, tension means interconnecting the bracket and the rotatable member for retaining the latter in normal clockwise rotatable posi- 

